Electrically-heated matrix-press.



H. B. GALE.

ELBGTRIGALLY HEATED MATRIX PRESS.

APPLIOATION FILED Humo, 1910.

987,293. Panamanian 21, 1911.

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unirsi) "sriifrns'4 PATENT.' OFFICE EORACE B. GALE, NATIC'K, MASSAGHUSTTS, ASSIGNOB TO SIMPJEX ELECTRIC HEATING COMPANY, O1' BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, .A CORPORATION 0F MASSA- eemes;

Bp-ecication of Letters Intent. Application' nlm February 1o,- rein. serial. in.. 543,074.

nmo'rnrcALnY-nnernn iii-Meur runes4 Patented Mar. 21, 191i.

Tozall when@V it may concern: p Be'.- it known that I, HORACE B. Ginn, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Netiek,in theV county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, halve invented an Improvement in Electrically-Heated Matrix- 'Presses, of which following descri' tion,

inconnection' with the accompanying rewings, is a specification, like letters on the "to the plate on whichthe ltype-form is 4Ineens for en overheated condition.

the' providing automatic Ineens for diminishing placed, .whereby the plete is kept sit-the, highest' temperature possible `without den1 ger of melting the type, and by providing estly mcreasn the current when the. co d type-formA is rst placed in press. -Ilmresed safety is secured by the current whenever the plate npproaohes Increased econmuy of operationis Secured by the special vso construction and 'cembinstien--of perts heremftcr Set forth, whereby the heat -of theheating resistance is confined to the heating plete end is .prevented from being dissipittedl to 'the .table and adjacent rts, and whereby the. appairatus is rendere 'substan` nelly automatic sogthjat it requires less atten- F'or a. clear understanding ojmy inventwin-1tl may be well to set forth. a brief sttemerit 0i. the requlrements of such en spinnt-gus.; The ty e having been set and 10G ed 111.' a. for-1n, e. letter-isplaced on e table npositionto receilve, on top offseefof4 the type., the matrix material, consisting 01E e lergcfnumherof' sheets or layers o specially pre 'eredl tissue paper, lwilled', and; pressed?v own -upon. the type 1n Impression-receiving relation; thereto, and

.On'this moistenedlayer of matrix. pa r are `leid;l several thicknesses of -woolen b ankets, in positionto be. pressed down :by the top. (plete: ef the press,y whch. is lordinarily screwed down or held b pneumatic or hydraulic pressure, compe ling' the matrix to be firmly pressed into all the recesses .of .the type, making e clear, sharp impression. While the matrix is thus held under heavy pressure, .heat is applied to the press table and conductedtherefrom to the moistened matrix bythe t peform, the woolen blankets absorbing lie steam arising from the drying. Especially in newspaper work, itis necessary thet'this drying process shell be escom-pushed- `very quickly, or in other words, that the press table shell be kept et 'the highest temperature possible without danger of melting the type metal, which orflinaril'y melts et about '48() degrees F.; and

particularly the construetional details of the table; Fi 2 is a bottom planview of the heating p ate, before-the enamel is run thereon; and Figs. and are' views, largely diegrammatic, showing" further 'oonstructionel details of the apparatus, Fig. Bishowing the.

seme largely for handoperetion', and Fig'.

4 showing the most ooniplete;'embodiment thereof.. A,

As herein shown, .the heating plate lcon'- 4 siste of a cest-iron body l-made 1n sections 4 of convenient size, havin a smooth, attop -Z the sections being provi ed on their under side with slender bearing lu erably rest upon an iron p ate 5 jsuppote 4 which prefu'ponor above a (heet-insulating. Vpa

'asbestos or other non-conductive material, 'the-whole being retained by. a; bed piece or press table 7. The bearing lugs `4eme as small as possible, e e. haves small sectional sible. withthe arrangement and distribution .of the heat resistanceon the underside of 'the 11ste.

9s aren' relatively to thewhole Ieren' of4 the plete- S0 as to reduce toa the downward heateenduction and interfere es little as pos-- This.' resistance .is preferablyin y erm of reiexed wire, as illustrated jat l,

23, 24, Figs. 1 and 2, sealed on the iron plate 1 by vitreous enamel 3 which holds the wire in intimate heat-conductive relation to the plate, while insulating it electrically therefrom.

In order to secure the best conduction of heat from the electric resistance, it is necessary to distribute the reflexed resistance wire as nearly as possible over the entire under surface of the heating plate, and it is also desirable that the bearing lugs 4 shall be correspondingly distributed substantially in lines between the sections of the resistance, so as to conform with the desired arrangement of the latter over the surface of theplate andin order properly to sup ort the 'plate' and prevent its being distorte from a 4true level .under the heavy pressure to which it is sub'ected when heated, the plate 5 aiding in istributing this pressure over the insulating 4pad 6.

I n order to give the lugs suiicient bearing surface with thel least possible encroachment on the space required for the heating wire, I make t em in the form of relatively .long and narrow blades 4or fins, dis osed lengthwise between the lines' of re exed conductor, and arranged with reference to the'desi'red division thereof, as' shown. The

lugs thus arranged, not only furnish thev necessary support for the plate while minimizing theheat losses, butco erate further with the vitreous-enamel in rml Vattach-l ingthe heatlng 4wire to the late.` he divi-v sionl of the enameled surace into -narrow strips by. these knife-like projections tends to prevent the akin 4off of the enamel'due to the expansion of e wire when suddenly heated.

ousarrangements', they V'arepreferably-divlded 4into several sections-for circuits, preferably three,"so disposed as to kee -the plate.

1 continuously at about its wor 'ng temperature ready to receive the'ty e-:Eorm soV that there may be no-delay in eatin' it.'

idle, the Aeat will be fully heated Vat the edges and also not overheated, in k the centen-1t is necessary,

while the plate is idle, to supply moreA heat around the outside edge .than in the. central portion of the' plate. AOn the 'other hand,

when in use, as the't pe-form of coldl lead is placed upon the'pate, it withdraws the.

l lheat uniformly and very rapidly from-the entire surfaceof-the heating-plate, quickly ylowerln titsl temperature vand checkingthe ,loss of 'eat vfro'mthe edges to the surrounding portions-,of the press, it being under- While theresistance wires may have varistood that the rate of this loss is relatively very small in proportion to the rapid outgo of heat to the cold type form.

My invention provides means for introducin more watts per square inch around thee ge than in the central ortion of the plate when the inactive loweating conditions are being maintained, with the result that the entire plate, including its edges, is kept at a practlcall uniform temperature, b ut when the active igh -heat conditions are bein maintained, that is, whennearly the who e heatdelivery is to the cold type form, the heating effect should be substantially uniform throughout the entire plate, and I therefore .provlde an arrangement whereby at this time the same number ofwatts is delivered per square inch in the central portion as at the edges ofthe plate because then -the matrix or type bodyr which receives nearly the whole heat delivery is in place to.

lwithdraw the same amount of heat atone place as at another. To accomplishthese results, I have herein :shown one section of the resistance wire as consisting of two similar portions 8, 9 connected in multiple atthe opposite terminals 10, 11 and thence respectively by conductors 12, lto binding posts 14, 15,` a second section of resistance wire as consisting of a pair of resistances 16, 17 connected inmultiple at 18, 19 and thence .by wires 20 21 to binding posts 15, 22, and

a third section of resistance wire as consist- -ing of a pair of resistances 23, 24 connected Vin multiple at 25, 26 and 'thence by wires 27, 28 to binding posts 22, 29, In the preferred i arrangement, as herein shown, the Inner sec- Vtions, or vrst two mentioned above, cover each as omewhat larger area of the plate than the outside section 23, 2 4, andthe latter? is made of higher resistance than either of the other two, approximately in inverse ratio to the areas covered. Thus, when lthe three sections ar'econnected in multiple, the current taken by each section will be approximately p'roportlbnal to the, area of' the plate heated' y that section, andthe4 supply y uniform over lts entire surface,.this being the arrangement of the circuits used when' .'a'4

matrix is being dried,-a nd'hence when the -maximum supplyv of4 heat is' called -for.

When, however, the plate `is standing idle, and hence less lcurrent isrequired,'the three sections `of the heating resistance are con# nected in series, sothat the total current sup ly is thereby cut down to. a relativel smal proportion, pre erably about, 'one#ten of the maximum 'current supply.- Asthe l heat generated in any section of lthe resistance' when the sections are'in series is proportional to. the resistance of that sectiony' thefheatsuppliedto the edge of thefplate will necessarily vbe greater than that' supjpled. 1in the. esstral.- Porti@ of 'the plats', S 130 -un. @mide section is' ila-1s of highsresSf. i

'adaptedazto open the switch 34 when the teming `dou contact-makers. 35, 36, is mounted' to -swilg .contacts 38, 39, 40, 41 connected with the 34 is open, the'current lo'ws through l ist-hus s ecially adapted to produce thede-l ,-continued, 'would become over-heated and between the body cf the plate 1 andthe Sup- 10' operations of the press are effected, is shown `Fig. 4. Resistance section 8, 9 is indicated s at @current being derived from any suitable ance and covers ls area than the interior: sections. It will therefore be apparent that my arrangement of the heating resistenciain which a single high resistance circuit ex- Q tends around the edge of the plate, combined with vthe special form and spacing of .the i bearing lugs, and ythe subjacent an' spaces porting plate 5, will maintain, with minv mum current, a uniform temperature over thel entire surface of the pla/te while the *press is idle, and will'also maintain like uni- 1- .formity of temperature nnder'conditions of maximum current and heat supply while the matrix is being.` dried.

The preferred means whereby the heating in itsmore simple hand-operated embodiment 1n Fig.,3, and in its more complete, and preferably automatic, embodiment, in

at a,section y,16, 17 atb, and section 23, 24

source '30 connected to the binding posts 14 and 29 by conductors 31, 32, a switch 33 begreferably interposed in the latter. A b e-pole switchv 34, provided, with two from its pivot 37 into closing relation wi four binding `posts of the apparatus by wires. 42, 43, 44, and.' 45.' vThus, when the switch the resistances in the direct-ion of the full-1ine arrows, whereas, when the switch 34 is closed, it Iflows `in the direction ofthe dottedline' arrows, or, in other words, by closing the single switch 34, the resistance' connections o the three sections ofthe resistance are changed from series relation to multiple relation. This special-combination-of three c1rcu1`ts is unique in ypermitting the change from series to multiple or the reverse, by the snnple 'closing or opening of one double-,pole switch; and it also furnishes about the required ratio ten-'fold to twenty-fold, ac cording to',V re ative resistance of the sections) of the high heat to the low heat current. The entire combination of structure of heater, circuits,` and controlling devices,

sized e ect in ythe special apparatus for which itis designed. .v

When the type-form is placed in the press, and the top (indicated in Fig. 1 lat 46)V is' clasrged down thereon, the switch 34 is clo ,placing the heater circuits in multiple, thus su plying .a relatively lar e current to the eater. The cold type-'crm is thus'rapidly brought up tothe limiting temperatureyand, if the supply'ofcurrent'were ruined. `Accordingly, toprevent this result and renderv the mechanism y and l operation ter is held at the safe linut of tem and the operation repeated. In the more completeembodimenb cf my safe, I provide a mechanism peratuie of the late reaches the limit of safety. The pre erred form of thermostat herein shown consists of a rod or bar47, of brass or other material having a higher rate of thermal expansion than the cast-iron of whichthe heater isvcomposed, held in direct contact with the heating plate in any suitable manner, as by being inserted in a hole orcavity 48 in the plate, asbest shown in Figs. 3 and 4. This rod rests against the bottom of the hole at one end and against a Contact 'spring` 49 at its other end, to cooperate with an adjustablescrew contact 50 held in a bracket 51 for closing a circuit 52,

53, 54 whenever lthe heating plate reaches its maximum temperature. A solenoid 55 is interposed in `this circuit-adjacentv the Switch lever 34, whose amature core 56 is operatively connected to said lever, as by a pin 57 and slot 58, said core at its opposite end serving to open a switch 59, 60 when the handle'34 is 1n open position,-Said switch 59 being'nomnally-closed by gravity or a spring 61. Thus, when the handle switch is open and the heatin plate is idle, the resistances are in series, t ereby maintaining the plate continuously'at proper temperature for receiving the type-form and matrix, and the moment the .latter are pnt in place to' be pressed and dried, the simple closing ofthe switch 34 changesthe resistances from series to multiple, therebyl introducing la much larger current to the heater, which rapidly -raises the cold type-form, etc., to the mam- ,mum temperature, and, as soon as this point is reached, the thermostat 47, byclosing its circuit, energizesthe coil of the automatic circuit-breaker, which opens the switch 34,v thereby cutting down the supply of current,

' to the heater so that the temperature ceases to. rise, while yet maintaining a proper flow of current vthereto to hold the heater at the limit fixed by the'srnaller current, which is below the danger point. vThe same movement of .the automatic circuit breaker operates to break its o wn'circuit and thereby prevent Waste of current While the thermostat is in its circuit-closing position, and prevents sparking when the contacts 49 and 50 separate, due to the coolingv of the rod 47. The matrix having 4been dried,'the typeform is removed from the ress, and the lat-- y rature with the' sections of the resistance 1n series until another type-form. is placed in thel press, Whentheswitch 34 is again'closed,

inventiom'as shown in Fi 4,'1 provide for "still more convenience an safety in the o p-' at one end and at its'opposite end by a wire 65 to the switch armature 66 of a relay coil.

or automatic switch whose electro-magnet 67 -is connected at one end by a conductor 68 tov the circuit wire 53 and at its other end by a wire 69 to a switchlever 70 normally in closing relation to a-.contact 7l connected by a 'wire 72 to the adjacent sidef the feed cir- A cuit, the switch 70 being held closed by gravmay be placed in a more convenient osition than would ordinarily be practica le for said main switch. Another-switch 84 is preferably connected across from the wire 52 to the contact 50, which operatesto close the circuit the same as the thermostat and is provided as a convenient means of opening" the main switch at anytime when it may be desired to do so' without waiting fof the plate to heat up to its maximum temperature.

Inuse, the apparatus being in the-position shown, the work is placed in the press in the manner before stated. If now the button 9 is pressed so as to close the pilot switch, the' circuit is thereby established through the switch 70, thus holding the pilot switch closed, and at the same time energizes the electro-ma et67 which closes the switch 66, thus allowing current to ilow in the solenoid 63, and, the latter being thereb energized, draws the armature62 to the le and closes the main switch 34. In finishing said closmovement, the amature 62 strikes the in switch 7 0 and moves it into open position, breaking thecircuit through the coils 67 and 82, thereby permitting the opening of `the switches 66 and 77. The motlon of the armature -62 to the left also releases the v switch 59, which thereupon closes a ainst its contact 60.` The apparatus is now 1n condition so that the circuit can be automatically opened by the thermostat 47 or'by' the hand switch 84. The result of the closing of the main switch 34 is that the resistances of the occurred, the attempt is made. again to closeheating plate are changed from series to multiple, and this condition remains until the type-form is raised to itsmaximum temperature, whereupon the expansion of the ther- -mostaticrod or 'ba-r4? closes the circuit at 49, 50, thereby energizing the solenoid 55 which draws the armature 56 to the right and opensl the main switch This changes the resistances of the heating late back from multiple to series relation.` I after this has the switch 34 by pressing the Vbutton V79 while the temperature oithe plate l is still atits maximum n'o current will flow through the solenoid 67 hecause the thermostat forms a short circuit around it from the point 14, or in other words, as long as the spring 49 makes contact with the adjusting screw 50, the main switch 34 cannot be closed by pressing the'button 79, but the current'in this case will follow the circuit 14, 52,49, 50,

53, 75, 82, si, so, 77, 76, 54, 29. Thisenee.

gizes the Vsolenoid 82 and holds the pilot switch 77 closed until the heating plate 1 has cooled sufiiciently to open the circuit at the thermostat, thereby permittingthe current to iiow through the switch'y 70 and coil 67, as before described, thus closing the switch 66, energizing the solenoid'63j-and again closingr the main vswitch 34.

combination therefore allows ythe apparatus to be set Jfor maximum-heating position bythe closing of the switch 77', but revents the closing of said switch 77 from` 'ringing I the parts into maximum-heatin relation when said relation would` be unsa e and pre- Tvents restoring said parts to said relation until the heater has: cooled suiiciently to ,avoid danger. If while the temperature is at the upper limit and the thermostat cir-l cuit is closed from 49 to 50, the attempt should be made to close the main switchby moving the handle 34 to the left, the. effect of the first slight movement would be to close the auxilia switch 59, 60, thus energilzing the solenoid 55. This would powerlly oppose any further movement to the left of the handle 34, which would, on being released, immediately ily back to the position shown in Fig. 4. At any time that it is desired` to open the main switch Without waiting for the plate to heat to its maximum temperature, this may be done either by the silzitch 84 or by moving the switch 34 manua y.- A

It will be understood that my invention is not restricted to the mechanical j details and arrangements ofthe preferred Vmechanism herein set forth except as otherwise required by certain of the more restricted claims. Y y

Having described my invention, what I claim as new yand desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a matrix press, an electric heatercomprisin a meta-l plate havinga plane top Vsurface a apted to receive a type lform, an

electric heating resistance consistlng of a plurality of sections of reexed conductor attached close to the bottom of the plate and insulated therefrom by vitreous enamel, and a plurality of relatively narrow knifeshaped bearing lugs projecting from th'eunder side of the plate downward through 'the enamel near the sections'of theheating resistance, said lugs dis lengthwise between the lmes of reflexed conductor and distributed over the siii-face of the plate so as to support it, substantially as set forth. 2. In a matrix press, an electric heater. plate, comprising Ia metal plate having a plane top surface ada ted to lreceive thel type-form, and a plurai ity of bearing lugs of relativelysmall areadepending .from the bottom ofthe plateat intervals throughout the entire area thereof, an electric heating resistance in a plurality of sections enameled to the under surface of the heating plate,

one of said sections having greater resistance than any of` the others and being located adjacent the outer edge of the plate, and means for connectin the resistance sections in series for normal eat and in multiple for maximum heat. j

3. In a matrix press, the combination of van electric heater, comprising a metal plate having a plane top surface adapted to receive thetypeform, an electric heating resistance for the under side of the plate, a supply circuit, connections from the opposite ends of the resistance to said supply circuit, connections from two intermediate s points of said resistance to said supply v'circuit, and switching means for reversin the polarity of the intermediate portion o? the resistance between said two points whereby the current may be permitted to flowl through the entire resistance in series or through thev intermediate. portion thereof in an opposite direction to that of the end portions.

4. In a matrix press, the combination of an .electric heater, comprising a metalplate,

resistance for heating said plate, a supply circuit connected-,to said resistance, a switch controlling the supplyv of current tothe heater, a-thermostat having a pair of con' tacts .for opening and closing a circuit responsively to changes, inv the temperature of the plate, and means controlled by said thermostat for opening the switch and hindering the closure thereof, or permitting such closure, accordingly. to whether the circuit through said airwof contacts is open or Y i closed, substantial y-'as set forth.

5. In a matrix press, the combination of an electric heater, comprising a metal plate, and a heating resistance therefor, a switch for controlling `the .supply of current to the heater, means toclose said switch by hand,

a thermostat responsiveto the temperature' of the plate to open 'the switch when the temperaturefof the plate reaches a prede# termined limit, and thermostatic-controlled means for hindering the manual closing of the switch except when the temperature of 1 the plate isbelow` a predetermined limit.

`vranged adjacent thereto, said element coin- 6'. The combination with a heater plate,

of an electric heating resistance element ar-v posed of separate sectionsl adjacent respectively to. the peripheral vand central portions ofthe plate, and means whereby the relative 'i proportions of current energy 'per square inch of surface disturbed to said ripheral and centra-ll portions may be vari `,substantially as set forth.

7. rLlhe combination a heater plate, of an electric heating resistance lelement arranged adjacent thereto and having sep.

arate vsections adjacent respectively tothe peripheral and central portions thereof, connections whereby a relativelysmall total current ener 'y for heating may be distributed-uneveny to the rsaid portions of the plate, the peripheral portion receiving more watts per square inch of horizontal plane area than the central portion, and means for shifting said connections to supply a larger total current energy with a relatively greater share to the central portion of the plate, substantially as described.

8. .In a matrix press, the combination with a plate, of an electric resistance element arr4ranged'adjacentthereto, having varying resistancecoe-iiicientsv per unit of lane area in different portions thereof,-6 iitrollable means for directing current |through said resistance element so as to uniformly apportion heating energy to all partsof the plate, and 4other means for optionally Vdiverting an excess of current'energy ticjjgfselected portions of the plate. i

9. In a matrix press, the combination with a plate, of heating resistance arranged adjacent thereto, said rtsistance composed of separate sections of iferentresistance -coeiiicients per unit of plane area for the peripheral and central portions of the plate respectively, and means for directingl current through said sections in series or in multiple, at option.

10. In a matrix press, the combination with a plate, of a heatin lresistance arranged adj'acent'thereto, sai resistance comprising a section .of relatively high resistance adjacent a relatively small peripheral part of the plate, and a section of relatively ow resistance adjacent a relatively large central part of the plate, and connections current through said sections for directin in series or in multiple, at option."

1l. In a matrix press, the combination withV a plate, of a heating resistance element arranged adjacent thereto, s'aid resistance element comprising a section of relatively high resistance adjacent a relatively,v small peripheral area of the plate, and a section of relatively low resistance .adjacent a relatively large central part .of the plate, means for connecting said sections in multiple at.

' will, the resistance of said sections being so roportioned that the current then taken A y each section will 'approximatelypr portional tothe area ofthe plate heated by f that section, and means for connecting saidv sections in series at will. l 12. In a Amatrix press, the combination with a`plate, of a heating resistance element disposed adjacent thereto, said resistance element composed of an outer section of'relatively high resistance covering a relatively small peripheral portion of 'the plate, and two sections of relatively low resistanoe covering a relatively large central area of the plate, connections for joining said three sections in multiple, and means for shifting said connections fo join said 10 sections fin series. y y

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

l HORACE B. GALE- Witnesses:

GEO. H. MAXWELL, M. J. SPALDING. 

